Iga Sviatek had a surprisingly tough match in the round of 16 at the WTA 500 in Tokyo as the former world number one lost nine games to Japan’s Mai Hontama (No. 148).

Iga Svyatek lost nine games to Mai Hontama in the quarterfinals at WTA Tokyo

Top seed Svyanek of Japan took two hours to get past Hontama, 6-4, 7-5.

Nippon led with two breaks in the first set (4-1), but Iga came back to win five games in a row.

Mai took the upper hand in response in the first game of the second set, but a new winning streak of the athlete from Poland followed (5-1). Gontama recovered two breaks to level at 5 after saving two match points, but lost serve again.

Svyatek, who has not played since her elimination in the round of 16 of the 2023 US Open and lost the top spot in the WTA rankings, will meet Russian Veronika Kudermetova (WTA 19, favorite 8) in the quarters.

The Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis (Tokyo) takes place from September 25 to October 1 on hard, is part of the WTA 500 category and has a total prize pool of $780,637. The main favorite is Iga Svyatek, and the crowned champion is Lyudmila Samsonova (2022).